


We played tag.

by shurb



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Animal Death, Asexual Character, Child manipulation, Childhood Memories, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Narcissism, Sad, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:26:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28630983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shurb/pseuds/shurb
Summary: Gavin remembers his childhood. He remembers his companion.It would be easier to forget, but he doesn't want to.It would be easier to forgive, but he cannot.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900 & Gavin Reed
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	We played tag.

**Author's Note:**

> Since I couldn't find the right tags, and did not want to fill them with a novel to explain what light differences there are with Gavin in comparison to the game, I will write them down here.
> 
> I am aware that Gavin does not get much screen time, but in this "alternative universe", he is quiet. Doesn't talk much, doesn't brag or assert his dominance with empty words.  
> It might not play a big role to know in this one-shot, and you are free to imagine him how you want, but be aware that his reactions are thus a little different to what his canon-version would do.
> 
> Other than that: Enjoy.

_His bond to his family had been... troublesome._

_At age seven he had been given the choice of where he wanted to live. Either with his mother, or his father._  
_A divorce was never a good thing for a child, especially not that young. But later on Gavin could piece the puzzle of his disorderly family life together, so he had enough sense to say that it had been a good decision for his parents to part._

_But the choice he had made had been so wrong._

* * *

**13th August, 2041**

Gavin had been forced to take "a break" from work, due to "disorderly conduct"; as others, and Fowler, had called it. Suspended for two weeks, because he had punched Connor in the face out of the blue - and it hadn't been out of the blue. Truly.  
Two weeks were a little overkill in his opinion. But considering the stress their Captain had to go through, with the addition of Gavin's not-so-clean file, he had taken the drastic measure.

He had to work together with that RK-800-asshole for almost three years now, and he still couldn't stand him and his arrogance sometimes. Constant remarks about his work ethics or his appearance, about his character - always so coincidentally whenever he was around to hear it. Not that he cared too much about what he said usually. But this time he had gone too far.  
At least his own partner was better. Nines and him had been working together since after the revolution in '38. Sure, they had had a rocky start. But with Gavin, it was standard, near obligatory.

 _"It's almost as if you want to push everyone away, before they can get a chance to hurt you,"_ was what he had said after two months.

They had been sitting on a bench in the park at night, where the snow still laid like a blanket over the treetops and the grass and playground, now undisturbed due to the late hours.  
The day had been awful. The coffee machine at the precinct had given up on him, then a suspect had gotten away. And then Nines had to have _that_ talk with him. About his person.

Honestly, Gavin had expected him to talk crap like Connor, seeing how the two were so similar. But they weren't similar at all.

Nines had been factual enough in his tone, so that Gavin had first bought the shit he had been saying. But what he had said wasn't true. Wasn't right.

Gavin simply had a dislike for humans. His own species was despicable as it could get.  
Rape, murder, lies and manipulation.  
But he didn't feel obligated to tell Nines that. In fact, he hadn't responded in any way. Not verbally, nor had he moved or let out a sound of annoyance. He had been quiet, because he didn't care what Nines thought of him.

Even if he did care, what would he do about it? The first impression had long since passed, and Gavin wouldn't change himself to fit his partner's dream of a cooperative workspace. He simply wasn't talkative, or interested in much else than getting his job done.

Of course, Nines was not a human, and he thought and acted differently than those Gavin grew to despise.  
But he still looked the part.  
More days than not did Nines look human - with his LED gone and his attire more personal than official.  
Most days he looked more alive than them. Everyday he behaved better than them, and each little gesture he did was so unlike what Gavin had gotten to know since he had been born.

A coffee cup with his name on it from a coffee shop near the precinct. A lone little gift sitting on his desk at his birthday in the morning when he arrived at work.  
The time they spent together outside of working hours.

Now Gavin was sitting on his couch in the living room, because what else was there to do? With no work, and with a second pandemic on their asses, Gavin hadn't left the house for seven days.

The first wave of COVID-19 back in 2020 had been bad enough, and now the cycle was repeating itself. America, as grand as it was filled with the corrupted rich and politicians, had not learned its lesson. Left those too weak or poor to die, while the hospitals were all too keen on helping those with money to get better.

Seven days with no contact to someone, because he appreciated the time alone. And since Nines had brought over some groceries, he hadn't needed to go out into the infected and dirty world - or the supermarket.  
Nines had tried starting a conversation with him on the third day after his shift, asking him what exactly had led to him suddenly lashing out, when he usually was never prone to showing his emotions, taking things he was being told like they never bothered him.

Nines may have been an android, one who acted so human _\- and so much better -_ but he still wasn't good enough to read him.  
Because Gavin wasn't acting like the insults didn't bother him. They just didn't. Be great for one person to like you, and five others will be there, waiting to tell your friend how bad you are. Tell them how you are actually not what it seems like, despite you never having done anything to prove them right.

Have your best friend at school say that you are annoying behind your back. That they have never liked you, and that they were just pretending. Followed by Gavin walking up the steps to the next floor in the schoolhouse, walking past your human "best friend" with their mouth hanging wide open at the realisation that he had heard them.  
But by the next break, young Gavin had forgotten. It was so easy to forget humans and their actions, because they constantly acted this way. It was disgustingly normal. Had been his entire life. 

There had been one friend Gavin had always trusted. Brown, fluffy hair. Black and big round eyes, with his adorable floppy ears.

* * *

_"Gavin, Happy Birthday!" his mother had woken him up with so much cheer in her voice, that his six year old mind was just as excited as her mood had been that day.  
Breakfast in the kitchen in their medium-sized apartment, with his father at work already._

_Cereal with milk, and now that he was all "grown up" with his strong six years of age, he was allowed a sip of coffee. With most of the cup filled with milk of course, and some added sugar.  
He had searched for the spoon to eat his cereal with, but couldn't find it, and laughed along with his mother as she told him that he had it in his hand already._

_His parents would yell any other day, but the night before his birthday, it had been unnervingly quiet. As if they had decided to give him one good-nights rest._

_As if it was the calm before the storm._

_The yelling and fighting his parents were doing nearly each day had an effect on Gavin. He played with children in school, sure. But he didn't talk, didn't respond when being called. His teachers had called his parents once, telling them about his odd behaviour of hiding away the moment he heard his name being called. And also playing less and less with his classmates. How he didn't eat his lunch and spent his time drawing at a lone table instead._

_But what could they do to solve this? Stop fighting?_

_No, but instead: He had gained the greatest friend he could have ever asked for on his sixth birthday._

_His mother had gone with him to the pet shop. Gavin had always loved animals. How they looked so free and happy. How much that was true was another thing, but they were somehow "free" in a sense that his young mind couldn't put into words. And maybe his liking for animals had been another thing entirely, but it didn't matter why he liked them. He just did._

_So in the isles he was walking. One, two, three. There were more, but in isle number 3, there he was: A brown, small bunny. The moment he had gotten Gavin's attention, he couldn't look away again. How cute he looked with his floppy ears, and how he tried to press his head through the narrow bars of the cage he was in so that he would be able to pet him. Some other bunnies and rabbits might have been doing the same, but Floppy had done it in a way that was different. As if Floppy had chosen him, and wasn't waiting to be chosen._

_Gavin had held his hand out, careful if he was going to bite him after all. But Floppy never had bitten him. He had sniffed his hand for just a second, before gently nibbling on his finger.  
His mother had watched this interaction and made a photo of it, had captured the first meeting Floppy and him had had. The moment that had seemed so endless and at the same time so short, captured on film. A moment in which only Floppy and Gavin were on earth. Where nothing bad could happen to him as long as they were both around._

_"Have you chosen your present?"  
"Yes! This one!" Gavin had exclaimed, looking up at his mother with a wide smile. Smiling had always seemed so unnecessary, wherein then it had been unstoppable to contain. Gavin would never have labeled Floppy as a "present" or "this", but the young mind didn't know. But it felt._

_On the 7th October 2008, he had not gained a present, but a companion like no other._

* * *

Gavin hadn't noticed himself falling asleep on the couch, dreaming about this little meeting he had back then. Now the memory was fresh in his mind, and despite all this being so long ago, it brought tears to his eyes. A pounding in his head, and pinching in his heart. Followed by him just sitting there on the soft cushions and looking out into the afternoon-sky, while hot tears ran down his face. Yearning for a time that was better, and also worse.

There was a knock on his door. No, three. Three knocks with the same intervals as the last time Nines had knocked.

Gavin didn't want to see anyone right now, but he knew of his partner's endurance, and how he would probably need to buy a new door if he wasn't going to open soon.  
So he got up and opened the door once he had wiped the tears away and collected himself enough to show his same expressionless face which he always wore.

Nines was carrying grocery bags again, as if he had sent him to the supermarket again. As if he had asked for the kindness. Kindness he would have to pay for soon enough. Sure, three years had passed and Gavin had never heard Nines say anything about repaying him. But the day would come. It had always been that way with his father, and some childhood friends. It was still this way with his coworkers.

Of course Gavin could easily reply with how he didn't care about their problems only because they had handed him the leftover love they weren't bothered to invest somewhere useful. Maybe Gavin was too creepy for them. He had always been awkward with human interaction. Could never get a grip on what to say and what not. Nor did he know how to make friends.

With his neutral state of mind most of the time at work, people had started to avoid him. The way he occasionally didn't reply to someone's comment or question, as if he was only a listener and never a participant in a conversation.  
All except Nines. Who, instead of trying to get him to talk, took his silences as answers enough. Accepted that the serious expression on his face had its variations, even if they were small.

Gavin hadn't chosen Nines as a friend, but Nines had chosen him. Had chosen to be his partner.  
Gavin didn't know if he could say the same about their relationship status. Sure, some people out in the world flung the word "friend" around as if they had an endless supply. Which may have been true for them, and Gavin accepted it. But Gavin, despite wanting to believe that they were more than just coworkers, could never seem to close the gap between himself and Nines.

A big hole that surrounded Gavin, and didn't let anyone close. No bridges, or paths leading to him the easy way.

A distance that Gavin started to want to jump over. When had the gap appeared, and how could _he, himself,_ get over it?

Would Nines be on the other side to catch him if he fell?

Nines was better than humans, but he still looked human. Who was to say he wouldn't let Gavin fall to his death? The smiles, the presents, the adoration could all be fake.

"How are you feeling today, Gavin? Have you been outside since the last time I was here?" Nines asked while putting away the groceries with him.  
Gavin knew that telling Nines that he didn't need to go shopping for him was useless, so he hadn't told him off for it.  
He remained quiet and continued to put away the apples in the fridge. Gavin hated apples, and still enjoyed looking at them. They were so beautifully ugly.

"Would you like to take a walk?" he asked instead.  
Gavin sat back down on the couch, gaze directed at the coffee table before him. As if going outside with a pandemic going on was a good idea.  
"I have time off tomorrow. I could come here and spend some time with you."  
He looked up at that, at Nines, wondering if he would really want to spend his free time with him. Him, who couldn't even be bothered to act normal and talk.

"... I'd like that."

* * *

_His parents were getting a divorce. It was inevitable, really._

_And since Gavin had to live somewhere, the question of where he would go came up fairly often._

_His mother had been the mature one, hadn't seen this case as a competition, and simply put her foot down and said that he would go live with her.  
How much Gavin would have liked that._

_Away from the man Gavin never had really understood or known. It was odd to not know their own father when he had been there since day one. But there had always been a distance between him and the man. A distance Gavin didn't dare close.  
He had often made his mother sad, and he didn't like to see his mother sad. She was a wonderful person, deserving of a loving husband. Alas, she had been as manipulated by his dirty games as Gavin had been._

_"Your mother married me only for my money."_

_"Your mother doesn't really love you. I do, son."_

_Gavin had asked his mother one day, while Floppy was cradled in his arms and chewing on a piece of salad. And she had looked shocked. Gavin was saddened that he had made her sad, too. She had said that it wasn't true. That she loved Gavin, and had never not loved him, and was always going to love him.  
And she had told him that his father actually didn't earn more more than her. That together they made around each the same. Gavin hadn't understood the concept of money at that point, and it had taken many more years to understand it fully. Because money was man-made. Gavin couldn't grasp the concept of how paper and metal was something people would betray others for. Couldn't understand why his friends were always so happy when he gave them some of his money so they could buy themselves something at a local kiosk._

_Gavin had stayed in his little, peaceful bubble with Floppy. A place where money was of no worth, and their imagination was all they needed to have fun.  
A bubble, which had been stressed often, but had never burst._

_Not when Floppy had suddenly stopped eating one day, and couldn't eat the offered pieces of banana anymore which Gavin had carefully cut up for him. He would try, Gavin could see. He was trying for him, reassuring him that he was fine. But then he had to go to the animal doctor, and he needed to be operated on.  
Not when Floppy suddenly couldn't poop anymore. And needed to visit the vet again._

_No, the bubble had never burst.  
Because there had been those who loved him, supporting him always. Gavin's mother, who had taken it upon herself to feed Floppy with one of those big, non-sharp needles after the operation, because Gavin had been too young at that point to do it as careful as she had been._

_Gavin had liked to believe that she had loved Floppy as much as she loved him. They were like brothers, sharing fruit and veggies. Gavin reading goodnight-stories to him, as awful as his reading skills had been._

_But his father had a different opinion. And because the man was so unpredictable and foreign to Gavin, because he was his father, he had trusted him when he had said that his mother didn't love Floppy._

_And that had made Gavin angry. He had never lashed out at Floppy, had never faulted him for anything, and always found comfort in his presence.  
But that day when he had been told that, he felt.. a very strong emotion. It was that day that he had lashed out at Floppy. It had been the first and last time. Because Gavin realised that it hadn't been his fault at all._

_Gavin remembered vividly how he had picked Floppy up, cried and then thrown him to the ground. It hadn't been hard enough to hurt him, since had hadn't had the wish to do so in the first place. It didn't matter though if he had wanted to or not or that the floor had been carpeted, too. It was unforgivable what he had done.  
His mother had said that it wasn't his fault, that he had just been a kid, frustrated with what his father had done. All the lies he had told and the manipulation he had done._

_He hadn't ever wanted to hurt him. The one he wanted to be angry with hadn't been Floppy, ever. He had been his only friend, and he had hurt him. Not physically, but the way the scene remained burned in the man's mind was near killing him:_

_How, after young Gavin had really just dropped the bunny on the floor unceremoniously, Floppy had looked up at him.  
How his wide, black round eyes had stared up at him in **betrayal**.  
How he ran away to hide away afterwards as Gavin wanted to apologise for what he had done._

_How Gavin had for the first time betrayed his only, true friend during that time. How he had become what he never had wanted to be: human. It wasn't a thing of being human. He was biologically. But thinking back, Gavin knew that his past self hadn't ever wanted to become so hateful like those humans he had gotten to know._

_How he had never wanted to let the bubble Floppy and him had built burst._

_Luckily, it hadn't yet._

* * *

**3rd September, 2041**

"What would you like to do on our day off today?"

Nines was keen on getting him up off the couch. But Gavin simply didn't have the same energy as him. His body didn't run on thirium, but on food.  
And as much as his body needed it, Gavin couldn't oblige with its wishes to be fed.

So he remained on the seat in their new house.  
Nines and him had moved together. They weren't a couple or anything, just close friends who enjoyed spending as much time as possible together.

"Gavin, have you eaten breakfast yet today?"  
He shook his head. What was it with constantly eating? Humans were so fragile that a day without food was already followed by a bout of fatigue. Then again, he didn't eat much on other days either, leading up to the days were he felt so tired.

Food simply wasn't fun when not shared. And Nines couldn't eat. Android companies were working on giving machines upgrades to eat, actually. Anything to fuel capitalism, Gavin supposed. He wouldn't stop them. Nor would he stop Nines if he wanted or did not want to get this upgrade.

Gavin wasn't a picky eater per se. He simply craved random foods at random times. Whether that be ice cream in winter, or olives with chilli-paste filling at 3 AM.

"If you'd like I can make you something," Nines offered, leaning on the backrest of the couch. Gavin leaned his head back to look up at the other. He shook his head.  
"Not hungry."  
No wonder, really, that Nines wasn't satisfied with the answer he got. But what could Gavin do? He couldn't force himself to be hungry.

"You seem less responsive today. Did something happen?"  
"Had a bad dream again."  
"Would you like to talk about it?"

Gavin hadn't said anything, only looked back to the TV again, which was playing some old movie Gavin had watched when he was younger.  
But Nines had understood. And he had sat down next to him, taking his hand and holding it firmly. It was a pleasant pressure, enough to make him feel grounded on planet earth, whereas before he had felt like he was drowning in his own guilt and remorse and sent to hell.

"What happened in the dream?"  
It took Gavin a few seconds, needing time to collect his thoughts to put them together in a way which wouldn't leave him crying before his friend.

"Dreamt about Floppy."  
He paused, and Nines took the initiative to urge him to continue talking: "Shouldn't it be a happy memory then? Why are you sad?"  
Nines had such an easy time now reading him. He could tell when he was sad, and when he was pleasantly content.  
"I have done something.. something I regret."  
Another pause, but only Gavin's hallow voice followed. He was scared of Nines' reaction. Was scared that he would hate him, and tell him that he deserved to die.

_He was scared that he would be all alone again._

"I have never hurt Floppy. Never. But once when I was younger, seven or so,.. my father was a real asshole. Telling me that my ma hadn't loved him. And I had gotten so angry that I had.. _I have thrown him on the floor_!" Gavin couldn't stop the tears from falling. They just built up, until they ran as free as his mouth: "I never wanted to hurt him, I'm sure he hated me ever since then. I am an awful friend! I- I-!"

Gavin was doing his best to wipe the tears away, hide his ugly face behind the monstrous paws with which he had once hurt his best friend.

But Nines didn't push him away as he had expected. He didn't shun him.  
He simply asked: "Have you hurt him physically? Broken his bones?"  
Gavin could only shake his head, as his voice was busy with letting out shaking sobs of pain and anguish.  
"Have you done it again or wished to do so?"  
Again, he shook his head. He never had done it again, and after that event had always made sure to hold Floppy just a little more careful and firmly in case he suddenly kicked his legs.

"I don't know the full history of your past, Gavin. But I don't think you wanted to hurt Floppy. And I am sure that once you had made up with him, he still didn't hate you. I don't think he ever thought badly of you."

Nines didn't know all of his past. How could he, when Gavin was prone to forgetting so much of it? But he knew a bit. He knew of how his father treated him, and how he loved his mother. And he knew of his best childhood-friend.

"I don't thi-think I could e-ever forgive mys-myself," he hiccuped by now, still bawling his eyes out. "How could Flo- Floppy have forgi- given me?!"  
"You were friends, weren't you? So why wouldn't he?"

Gavin didn't want to believe Nines' words, wanted to suffer as much as Floppy had that day in hopes to quench the thirst for pain the monster inside of him had. But how could he? Even if he found a way to hurt like Floppy, what would that do?  
And as if Nines had read his mind, he wrapped his arms around him, and said: "If Floppy was still alive, I am sure he wouldn't want you to suffer. He would want you to be happy."

The words made him cry harder, but Gavin believed them. Floppy was his best friend, he didn't want him to hurt, too.

So he hugged Nines back, holding onto him as if his life depended on it.

"I now understand why you got so angry with what Connor had said to you."  
Gavin looked up at Nines questioningly.

"That you probably wouldn't be good with animals."

* * *

_The day to decide where he wanted to live had arrived._

_It had been a stupid idea to let a near eight year-old decide something like this. Because no matter what choice he would take, one parent would be hurt, the other disappointed._

_But there he stood, in front of the table, and thinking on what to do._

_Of course this situation had been his father's idea. Who else would traumatise a young kid in order to fulfil their egoistic wish to be loved, instead of giving love unconditionally; like a proper parent. Like his ma._

_But his mother hadn't been the only one manipulated. After all, she had granted his wish to let Gavin decide._

_Gavin felt so stupid today. Knowing now that the question, this whole situation had been a bad joke from the beginning. It had all been a stupid game for his father, seeing who could walk off with the "prize" that he was. Nothing but a winner's cup to show off to his equally manipulated adult-friends._

_And he had been the pawn, had been played for a fool._

_His decision had been wrong, but at the time it had seemed right. Because his father "loved" Floppy. So Gavin had said that he wanted to live with him, and not his ma._

_The day of the move came and went, he now had a shorter walk to his school, and things were going their way.  
He now lived with his biological father and Floppy in a house with another family, who also had a kid._

_Her name was Miriam, and Gavin and her sometimes played together. They shared happy memories, along with Floppy, who was always around with them in the garden. Where Gavin was, Floppy was. And Miriam joined them._

_She was so wild as a kid, always managing to earn another bandaid on her body the next time Gavin saw her. But she was gentle with the two of them._

_Playing pirates had always been fun. Her as the captain, shouting up the neighbourhood until someone yelled back for them to shut up. Gavin as the man on the top of the old tree to look out for hostile ships. While Floppy was the co-captain, aiding Miriam through the sea._

_A day of playing usually ended with Miriam having gotten hurt in some way. Slipping on wet wood on the old bench in the corner of the garden, or stumbling over a rock and falling into the small pond occupying not even a fourth of the confined space.  
But her wild shenanigans, that luckily never had gotten her seriously hurt, had never turned on Gavin or Floppy. Whenever she gave her other friends a hug, she was nearly knocking them out with how tightly she was holding them, but whenever she hugged Gavin, as little as he liked physical contact, she was gentle and careful._

_Gavin loved seeing Floppy excited for pets whenever she came around to play with them in the garden, because she did it always so perfect. He even let her pet his floppy, big ears._

_Despite all this, Gavin still felt this gap between himself and Miriam. She had been a great friend. A fun person to be around, ready to make him laugh with a bad joke whenever he was feeling down because he got yelled at his father because his dad had broken something. It had never made sense, but Gavin had blamed himself nevertheless._

_Maybe the gap was okay. Because one day she moved away. The last day before she moved away, Floppy, him and her played catch._

_Maybe Floppy had sensed that she was leaving, and he had granted her some fun time, letting her and Gavin throw an apple, and letting Floppy run after it. Only to take a couple nibbles, before standing next to the apple and waiting for it to be thrown again. And when she did, he chased after it again._

_It had been quite fun.  
And then Miriam was gone._

_And it was just Floppy and Gavin again._

_And the abandoned apple in the garden turned rotten._

_It was summer, and Gavin's new neighbours arrived. They didn't have a child._

_At school, Gavin remained uninterested in making any friends or keeping the friendships he had.  
He had had Floppy, and he was all the friends he needed._

_He turned eight, and life went on.  
Getting yelled at by his father because he had had the audacity to talk about his exciting day with Floppy while he was washing the dishes. His father had dropped a plate, and then yelled that he should just shut up already. So he did._

_One morning, a school-day, he got out of the house and into the garden to say Floppy goodbye for the day, and that he would see him later._

_But Floppy was laying all weird. All sprawled out, and breathing oddly.  
Gavin had asked if he was okay, had pet him and assured him that it would all be okay. He had ran inside and woken up his father to tell him that Floppy wasn't feeling right._

_They had walked outside and Gavin could only watch as Floppy was in pain. He wanted to be there for him, but his father's orders were to obey._

_He hated that his father's orders had been to obey to. He had wanted to stay, and make sure his friend was going to be okay. But he was told to go to school. So he did._

_When he came home, Floppy was gone._

_He had asked his father, but he had just told him off, said he should ask his mother. He never wanted her help for anything, only let the government pay him for child support, and still claim that she was a monster who wanted all his money after she had spoken up once that she wanted a share, since she still bought him clothes and food with the little money she was earning.  
It would have been the right thing to do, but his father wasn't a good man. Wasn't a man of honour or compassion. Of empathy._

_Gavin, today, theorised still if his father had wanted Floppy gone, so that he could only kiss his father's feet like the embarrassing, sad, narcissistic man-child he was.  
Gavin would never get a clarification. And it didn't matter if he did or not._

_The man hadn't even let him say goodbye to his best friend. He hadn't even told him where he had buried him - and his aesthetic-ass probably hadn't even bothered to bury Floppy in the garden where they had shared so many memories together._

_His mother had told him that they had done everything, brought Floppy to the vet, wondered what it could have been that killed him. She had said that Floppy had never been strong. That he had had multiple problems, and that most parents hadn't even wanted to take him once the pet-shop owner had told them about all the possible occurring vet-visits._

_But Gavin didn't care about all the things she had said. Because in the end, he still hadn't had the opportunity to say goodbye and thanks for the time they had had._

* * *

**7th October, 2042**

Gavin's birthday. His 40th, to be exact.

Nines had ended his stasis earlier in order to wake him up and congratulate him.  
They were together now. A couple. And best friends.  
Gavin, over the course of their shared work and time spent together, had learned that Nines wasn't going to leave anytime soon. He was going to be there for him. And Gavin wanted to be there for Nines, and never hurt him. Ever.

Gavin smiled at the gesture, and went to thank him, when Nines brought him to the kitchen, sitting him down at the table with a bowl of cereal and a bottle of milk placed on it.

His smile faltered lightly at the sight of this.

"What is it, Gavin? Are you alright?"

Gavin nodded, and smiled. "Yes, I'm just a bit... could we light a candle later, please? It is Floppy's 34th anniversary."  
"Oh, of course, Gavin," Nines smiled knowingly at him. He knew that Gavin had gotten Floppy on his birthday. And since there was no gravestone to turn to, all Gavin could do was light a candle, and blow it out with a wish that Floppy was fine, wherever he was now.

This scene, how familiar it was for Gavin to pour milk into the bowl and close the cap again, how he searched for the spoon despite it already being in his hand at the time.

It was so painfully familiar that he teared up a little.

Nines was at his side in an instant, and he sat down next to him, asking why he was sad.  
And Gavin couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that. This one time, Nines had failed to read him.

"I'm not sad, Nines. I'm just happy. Remembering Floppy's and my memories together."  
Gavin wiped the tears away and took Nines' hand. "You know.. I just remembered something. Something my mother told me when I was a teen."

"What is it?"

"The day before Floppy died, she was there. She had visited my father and me, and just watched from the window when Floppy and I were playing in the garden again. He was chasing me, and she said the two of us looked so happy. When I stopped running and let Floppy catch up with me, he jumped on my feet, before running off again, and I slowly jogged after him."

"We played tag."

**Author's Note:**

> In memory of my pet.  
> I love you and I miss you. And I want you to know that only because of you I believe in a heaven for animals and pets alike, because companions like you never die.
> 
> I wish I would have done more for you. Alas, I cannot change the past, but you have been the only friend in a phase of my life where I had been more alone than I had realised.
> 
> And I'm sorry for the bad things that happened, and grateful for the great memories we had made together. Both our lives had been rocky, but together we had the best times.


End file.
